The Philadelphia Militia killed 20 men, women, and children as they arrived in Pittsburgh to put down the protests. The President and the Governor were so furious they ordered Philadelphia troops sent in to try to defuse the situation. In Pittsburgh, the solidarity ran so high that the local police and militia sided with the workers. The militia was constantly called in as strikebreakers in Maryland the militia killed 10 protestors as they threw rocks and sticks. Sympathy for the strikers grew strong all across the country, and in several cities workers protested the treatment of the strikers. But this was just a small victory for the ruling class, for the strike had just begun! The strike-breakers could not extinguish the flames of revolt – when one battle was won, another popped up they couldn’t keep up with the working classs determination. The troops arrived in Martinsburg, VA heavily armed with rifles and gattling guns, and succeeded in breaking the strikes and getting the trains moving again. The Governor then begged President Hayes for federal troops, which were quickly granted. There was a battle between the strikers and the militia, but the strength and solidarity of the workers pushed back the militia, leaving the railroads to the workers, who were winning more and more support. Trains stopped moving, and the bosses pleaded with the Governor to call in the militia. Word traveled fast through to Virginia where strikes also erupted. The bosses attempted to hire scabs but the strikers blocked train movements in all directions. On July 16, Brakemen and Fireman stopped working. Around the same time, the Baltimore & Ohio cut wages, and reduced work weeks. Furious workers took control of the switches and blocked the trains, igniting the spark. They laid off workers, cut wages, and then announced they would increase their eastbound trains to Pittsburgh without hiring more crew. The PA railroad began slashing wages, first 10 percent at the start of the year, then another 10 percent in June. As a special incentive, Republicans also promised to end reconstruction in the South, a smack in the face to African Americans. A slick deal with Thomas Scott, of the PA railroad, gave Hayes the southern congressional votes in exchange for a bailout of failing investments in the Texas and Pacific railroads. Rutherford B Hayes, a Republican, was not the majority of the peoples’ choice for President, but 20 disputed electoral votes, some of which were from Florida (surprise!), brought the decision to the House of Representatives. A fixed political election plunged the country deeper into misery. Those who were able to keep a job worked six months a year and their wages were cut by about 45 percent, which works out to be roughly 1 dollar a day. By 1877, roughly 3 million people were unemployed – an astounding 27 percent of the working population. In 1874, the unions tried to organize workers, demanding higher wages and shorter workdays but with little success. In September of 1873 a depression gripped the nation layoffs, wage cuts, breadlines, and evictions increased thousands and thousands suffered during the winter through 1874. Our own history is rich with examples of the heroism of the working class in their struggle for a better world.įorty years before the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the American people showed their solidarity and elan, and rose up against their capitalist masters. Some say human nature prevents a socialist system from ever being successful, but the truth is that it’s human nature to strike back against oppression and exploitation when men and women are pushed to the brink. The constant oppression of the working class by the capitalists has shattered many people’s hopes for solidarity – or so they would like us to think! Every working class man and woman on this planet has had enough with the constant attacks from the ruling class – all it takes is one spark to ignite the fires of revolution. They say that Americans are greedy and unwilling to join together in common struggle. They say that the working class and poor, who make up 90 percent of the country, are too fragmented. Many skeptics say that a socialist society could never exist in America. Support Socialist Appeal – Subscribe or make a Donation !
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |